When history looks back at the University of Michigan’s back-to-back “Fab Five”-led NCAA Final Four appearances, it will be saddened to see a talented team tainted by corruption.

Although U-M athletics director Bill Martin said it is premature to believe the Wolverines will be required to return the money they earned in the 1992 and 1993 NCAA tournaments and take down the respective Final Four banners from Crisler Arena’s rafters, he said they were possible punishments.

The measures were suggested by former U-M athletics director Don Canham on Thursday after the indictment of former U-M booster Ed Martin, who federal authorities allege violated NCAA rules by loaning “Fab Five” star Chris Webber and three other players $600,000 from 1988 to1999.

Bill Martin and Ed Martin are not related.

While it is easy for a Spartan to cheer on the possibility of U-M’s banners falling, we are pretty much indifferent on the subject.

It doesn’t matter if the banners are allowed to hang because they are tainted either way. Whether they are hanging from the rafters or thrown into the trash, the flags are worthless if it is found to be true that U-M boosters violated NCAA regulations by paying players.

Ed Martin, a retired Ford Motor Co. electrician, has been a key figure in a long NCAA violation investigation of U-M’s basketball program, which led to the firing of the school’s head coach Steve Fisher in 1997. Fisher led the “Fab Five” teams.

NCAA regulations are put in place to keep the college playing field legitimate and fair. If schools were allowed to pay players, money would speak louder than athletic ability and pride.

If Martin’s alleged actions are proven, it will not matter if U-M takes its banners down, the damage has been done. Its basketball program is forever tainted.

If you allow your team to cheat, you should be prepared to pay the consequences. It’s a shame such a celebrated accomplishment is nullified because of fraud.